The Illumination Characteristics of Glass-Based Mazu Temple Buildings Compared to Traditional Temples in Taiwan

Abstract

The role of religion in providing people spiritual stability and the necessity for conducting worships has increased the demands of religious buildings. Taoist religious buildings have a significant presence in Taiwan. With increasing environmental awareness and declining wood production, current constructions of Taoist buildings have shifted from using wood to employing reinforced concrete as building material. However, insufficient indoor lighting results in buildings requiring artificial lighting, which in turn leads to energy consumption. Therefore, a glass-based material Mazu temple is proposed to substitute wood and reinforced concrete material. The design consideration for building is illustrated in this paper. Furthermore, the illumination of the Mazu temple constructed will is analyzed and compared to a traditional Taoist temple building. The results show that the illumination of glass-based temple buildings is better than traditional temple buliding. Hence, it could reduce the require time of artificial lighting.